About the Bloggers
Eileen Norcross s a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, where she specializes in federal, state, and local budget, tax, and spending issues. Her current research interests include public finance, fiscal federalism, new institutional economics and public choice theory. She received her Masters in Economics from Rutgers University in 1996 and her Bachelors in Economics and U.S. History from Rutgers-Newark. A native of New Jersey, she currently lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband and their three children.
Matthew Mitchell is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the lead scholar on the Project for the Study of American Capitalism, His primary research interests include economic freedom and economic growth, public choice economics, and the economics of government-granted privileges to businesses. Dr. Mitchell received his PhD and his MA in economics from George Mason University. He received his BA in political science and BS in economics from Arizona State University. A native of New Mexico, Matt now lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife and daughter. Friends report that most conversations with Matt eventually circle back to New Mexico and Hatch Green Chili.
Emily Washington is a Policy Research Manager for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She manages the Spending and Budget Initiative and State and Local Policy Project portfolios. Her writing has appeared in USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, Economic Affairs, and The Daily Caller. She contributes to the blogs Neighborhood Effects and Market Urbanism. Emily is an alumna of the Mercatus Center MA Fellowship at George Mason University. She worked with the Social Change Project in issues related to state and local policy and urban economics. After completing her MA, she worked in commercial real estate market research before returning to the Mercatus Center as an Associate Director of State Outreach. She graduated from Goucher College in Baltimore, MD with a BA in Economics.
